World Economic Forum eyes future of smart transportation

On Wednesday, the Forum announced its plan to accept applications from cities around the world interested in developing a smart transportation plan.

Once a city is selected, the Forum says it will help “integrate its existing transportation systems with currently-available and soon-to-be-available technologies, encourage the sharing economy and prepare it to integrate autonomous and connected vehicles.”

With a group of industry experts, the Forum will also help the city implement a multi-model transportation plan, with the possibility of a self-driving vehicle pilot program.

Self-driving cars are expected to arrive in cities as soon as 2020, but plans and regulations have not been put into place to prepare for them, the Forum said in a release. A strong transportation plan, including a self-driving vehicle pilot, could be instrumental in guiding the selected city, in addition to paving the way for the future of transportation in other cities around the world.

According to the Forum, transportation could be the biggest factor contributing to escaping poverty and that autonomous vehicles have the potential to take 60-70% of cars off the road, reduce road fatalities by 90% and reduce emission by 2-4%.

Interested city officials are invited to submit expressions of interest to the World Economic Forum by May 11, 2016.